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The British and the French were appalled by the bloody battles on the western front. They wanted a way that would allow them to attack the Central Powers and in this way to provide some relief for the hard-pressed British and French troops in Flanders and Northern France. The British suggested that the allies use their naval superiority to inflict a decisive defeat on the Ottoman Empire. The idea of seizing the Dardanelles Straits was soon mooted after the Ottoman Turks joined the war on the side of the Central Powers.<ref> Moorehead, <i>Gallipoli</i> (Ware, Wordsworth, 1987), p. 56</ref> The British believed that their navy, by far the strongest in the world would be able to land a decisive blow against the Turks. The British navy argued that the allies land a large force of soldiers on the Straits. They would then be in a position to launch an attack on the Ottoman Capital of Constantinople. Another one of the objectives of the campaign were to secure a sea route to Russian and to protect its southern Black Sea flank. It would also allow the western allies to supply the Russian army with badly needed arms and equipment.
[[File: Gallipoli 1.jpg|thumbnail|270px|Turkish gun at Gallipoli]]
The British became convinced that any landing in the area of Constantinople, could lead to the Turks withdrawing from their alliance with the Central Powers.<ref> Moorehead, p. 67</ref>. The Turkish Empire had arguably been in decline since the eighteenth century and many of the western powers believed that any attack on it would result in its final destruction. Winston Church who was Lord of the Admiralty had great expectations for the assault at Gallipoli, he believed that if the allies seized the Dardanelles that they could open up a new front in the Balkans and even force the Austro-Hungarians to sue for a separate peace and this would lead to the break-up of the Central Powers. <ref> Haythornthwaite, Philip, <i>Gallipoli 1915: Frontal Assault on Turkey</i>. Campaign Series #8 (London: Osprey, 2004), p. 119</ref> The French agreed to the plan and they contributed a significant sized force to the attack. However, the operation at Gallipoli was a British Empire undertaking. Apart from sizeable British army units and naval forces, much of the invasion force was composed of units recruited from the Empire. Many of these came from Australia and New Zealand and they became known as the Anzacs.<ref> Moorehead, p. 78</ref>
==Gallipoli Landings==
